The “Helicopter War” in Vietnam

aircraft to transport troops and provide close-air support. And for those who were there it certainly was.

This week on Veterans Radio we will be taking a look at the helicopters and the crews that flew them in Vietnam from 1961-1975.

A New Monument at Arlington National Cemetery

It’s been three years in the making, but on Wednesday April 18, 2018, helicopter crews who flew during the Vietnam War will have their own monument at Arlington National Cemetery.

The Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association (VHPA) and Congress came together for the Vietnam Helicopter Crew Monument Act, directing the secretary of the Army to place a 2 1/2-foot by 2 1/2-foot monument at the cemetery in Virginia. It will be placed in Section 35 along Memorial Drive, not far from the Tomb of the Unknowns.

Our guests include Retired Air Force Lt. Col. Bob Hesselbein, who flew AH-1 Cobra gunships in Vietnam, and helped spearhead the campaign for the memorial.

In April 2014, Hesselbein, legacy committee chairman of the pilots association, and other members went to Arlington Cemetery to discuss donating a tree. Instead, one of the historians suggested donating a monument.

“We discovered that the greatest concentration of combat casualties who operated helicopters in the Vietnam War are in Arlington,” he told Military Times.